Kill The Startup Delay For Your Windows 8 Desktop Apps

After upgrading to Windows 8, you might have noticed that apps set to run at start-up take longer to run than they did in Windows 7. Turns out this is an intentional change on Microsoft's part, but this delay can be removed with a simple registry tweak.

As this post over at WinAero points out, you'll need to fire up the Registry Editor, easily done by searching for "regedit.exe" (it should be in "C:\Windows", or whichever path Windows is installed to). Once it's loaded, open up this key:

Note that the "Serialize" key might be missing — if this is the case, you can simple create it by right-clicking on the "Explorer" node and selecting New -> Key.

Inside the Serialize node, you'll need to make a DWORD called "StartupDelayInMSec". It should already be set to zero, but if it isn't, you can make the change yourself. Close the editor and then reboot. The result should be apps set to run at startup — either via the Startup folder or the registry — will run as soon as they're able.

I assume because avalanching isn't good for traditional desktops/laptops, and causes a lot of dish seeking (which is not a problem for tablets). It means people can get to a useable windows desktop faster, without having 5 billion system tray utilities which often do nothing useful all load at once making the desktop feel sluggish and almost unusable for 5 minutes. With the startup delay it means I'm well into doing what I want when several minutes later Java asks me to update rather than being frustrated having to wait for Java to be nonsensical first.

It makes sense unless the system in question is a quad core with an SSD. Otherwise, you're better off loading them one by one. If you're loading too many things at once, it's all going to grind to a halt.

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